In Conversation

In this video filmed in 2024, Sid Lapidus discusses his collection and his philanthropic interests.

About Sid Lapidus

Sid Lapidus is a 1959 graduate of Princeton University, where as a history major he was exposed to many of the ideas discussed in the works on display in this exhibition. He enjoyed a successful career in the private equity firm Warburg Pincus before retiring in 2007. Also Princeton alumni are Sid and Ruth’s three children.

As detailed elsewhere in this exhibit, Lapidus began collecting rare books in the summer after his college graduation, and pursued this interest for many decades. By the time he decided to stop collecting about five years ago, he had gathered more than 3,100 rare books ranging in date from the 17th to the 20th centuries. His major collecting interest was in works of political thought that shaped Anglo-American notions of liberty.

A dedicated philanthropist, Lapidus is an eager supporter of libraries, learned societies, and universities. He has given of his time as well as his money, serving as Chair of the Council of the American Antiquarian Society and a trustee of New York University Langone Medical Center for many years. In recognition of his generous support, Lapidus has earned many honors, including the Antiquarian Booksellers' Association of America “Patron of Honor” award, the 2024 Champion of History award from the Gilder Lehrman Institute of American History, and an honorary membership in the Friends of Princeton University Library.

To cap his career as a book collector, Lapidus decided to donate his collection to several libraries. Among the many beneficiaries of his book donations are the Wolf Law Library, William & Mary Law School, the Sid and Ruth Lapidus Health Sciences Library of New York University, the Center for Jewish History, the New York Historical, the Schomburg Center for Research in Black Culture of New York Public Library, the American Antiquarian Society, and the Princeton University Library.